What the hell, they actually learned to 3D model. The 3D animations still aren't as smooth, but they look much nicer than their previous efforts on the system. It comes at the expense of the sprites, though, which animate rather stiffly.

Ok so it is official... I will totally say this game kicks ass.... Yea it has its flaws.... Yes it took a full week of play-time for to get to the "kick ass" point... but if you meander your way (painfully at times...) through the first long leg of this game, you'll be pleasantly surprised by a real gem of an SRPG here..

The coolest pro of this title for me is the way they keep the narrative (which is waaaay improved over Zero BTW) in tact whilst allowing you to play in a VERY non-linear way. In fact, dare I say, I've never quite felt such a sense of open-world, non-linearity in an SRPG of this nature before.

The cons really held this game back for the first 8-12 hours for me though, which is a shame because I can see alot of people putting it down and never giving it so much as another glance throughout its meager beginnings..... And to be completely honest, I still don't dig the skill system (too much random-ness in developing effective configurations of characters skills for the coming battles for my taste..... you'll find yourself thinking you've got a solid set-up for one battle and then completely dwarfed in the next without reworking things.... which requires a wee bit too much menu surfing IMO)...

But other than those two (albeit major) problems, this game is a HUGE step up for Idea Factory if you ask me.... I'll post more as I make my way through this title, but that is my final two cents on the first weeks worth of getting aquainted with this one.

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In this world is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcedental entity or law? is it like the hand of god hovering above? Perhaps Man has no control even over his own will…

Ok so it is official... I will totally say this game kicks ass.... Yea it has its flaws.... Yes it took a full week of play-time for to get to the "kick ass" point... but if you meander your way (painfully at times...) through the first long leg of this game, you'll be pleasantly surprised by a real gem of an SRPG here..

The coolest pro of this title for me is the way they keep the narrative (which is waaaay improved over Zero BTW) in tact whilst allowing you to play in a VERY non-linear way. In fact, dare I say, I've never quite felt such a sense of open-world, non-linearity in an SRPG of this nature before.

The cons really held this game back for the first 8-12 hours for me though, which is a shame because I can see alot of people putting it down and never giving it so much as another glance throughout its meager beginnings..... And to be completely honest, I still don't dig the skill system (too much random-ness in developing effective configurations of characters skills for the coming battles for my taste..... you'll find yourself thinking you've got a solid set-up for one battle and then completely dwarfed in the next without reworking things.... which requires a wee bit too much menu surfing IMO)...

But other than those two (albeit major) problems, this game is a HUGE step up for Idea Factory if you ask me.... I'll post more as I make my way through this title, but that is my final two cents on the first weeks worth of getting aquainted with this one.

You convinced me to get it! I liked the first one, but the battle system was clunky to the point that I gave up midway through the third generation. When every single battle out of eighty threatens a total party kill, due to the mechanics, the game is too hard. Granted, I liked Ar Tonelico Qoga and I have a really high tolerance for flaws, so I guess I'm in the target demographic! ;-)

You convinced me to get it! I liked the first one, but the battle system was clunky to the point that I gave up midway through the third generation. When every single battle out of eighty threatens a total party kill, due to the mechanics, the game is too hard. Granted, I liked Ar Tonelico Qoga and I have a really high tolerance for flaws, so I guess I'm in the target demographic! ;-)

Eh? To be quite honest, I've no idea what you're talking about. The first Agarest is easy until you start hitting the bosses in Generation 3 that wipe out your party in one attack. Methinks you, er, didn't know the mechanics well. But I didn't either, not until midway through my first playthrough in Generation 4 (which says a lot for the game in general, that it takes some ~400 battles to fully understand the system).

This game has a difficulty spike right at the very start, because the game does a terrible job of explaining everything, and once you get the mechanics down, it's relatively uneven from then on. One battle I can pass with no trouble, the next the enemies toss my characters around like dolls. I'm assuming it's like the first one and eventually the bosses will butcher you if you position your characters incorrectly. I find it more difficult than Agarest 1, but most likely because I do knows Agarest 1 so well.

Some things I definitely like, though. They're expanding on the lore (one of the best parts of the series) considerably. I love the new skill system, very interesting.

You convinced me to get it! I liked the first one, but the battle system was clunky to the point that I gave up midway through the third generation. When every single battle out of eighty threatens a total party kill, due to the mechanics, the game is too hard. Granted, I liked Ar Tonelico Qoga and I have a really high tolerance for flaws, so I guess I'm in the target demographic! ;-)

Eh? To be quite honest, I've no idea what you're talking about. The first Agarest is easy until you start hitting the bosses in Generation 3 that wipe out your party in one attack. Methinks you, er, didn't know the mechanics well. But I didn't either, not until midway through my first playthrough in Generation 4 (which says a lot for the game in general, that it takes some ~400 battles to fully understand the system).

This game has a difficulty spike right at the very start, because the game does a terrible job of explaining everything, and once you get the mechanics down, it's relatively uneven from then on. One battle I can pass with no trouble, the next the enemies toss my characters around like dolls. I'm assuming it's like the first one and eventually the bosses will butcher you if you position your characters incorrectly. I find it more difficult than Agarest 1, but most likely because I do knows Agarest 1 so well.

Some things I definitely like, though. They're expanding on the lore (one of the best parts of the series) considerably. I love the new skill system, very interesting.

@ Zend- Good decision friend! I can't imagine you being disapointed here as your tastes sound similar to my own (I love the Ar tonelico series and can easily overlook flaws in light of what I like)

@Cyril- I'm finding the key not getting totally trounced one battle to the next is paying real close attention to enemies strengths and weaknesses vs my parties and swtiching out characters FAST if they aren't part of the "solution" if you will.... that is if an enemy can exploit my parties weakness or I am unable to exploit theirs and quickly build my ultimate gauge, well I'm screwed..... to accomplish this your almost forced to focus on the growth of team-mates outside your preferred 4 person party with an emphasis on variety. Being mindful of this coupled with heavy emphasis of the "extend" skills has kept me moving steadily and I'm playing on hard......

Additionally I've noticed alot of what I have percieved as being overtly difficult was me getting a little too ambitious and venturing paths I probably should have waited to blaze until completing some other stuff.... but having a game over as a real possibility has proven remarkably refreshing for me. I think it is actually part of this titles strength. They certainly don't treat the player with kid gloves by the end of the first generation, thats for sure....

EDIT: Well guys, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong... and I have to admit I was wrong about the difficulty..... I do NOT suggest playing this on hard.... it gets steep, let me tell you what.... normal may seem too easy for awhile but hard becomes brutally frustrating.... I mean it becomes quite literally unfair, even with relatively maxed equipment and upgrades to the point were progression is literally dependant on A-LOT of grinding.... I actually decided to restart on normal.... what a chore....

« Last Edit: July 04, 2012, 07:39:35 PM by Klyde Chroma »

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In this world is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcedental entity or law? is it like the hand of god hovering above? Perhaps Man has no control even over his own will…

So I got this game, and it really is a massive improvement. Most of Idea Factory's games make me wonder why they are picked up for release here, but this one could probably get a release on its own merits. One thing that made me laugh though was that after the super serious opening scenes, not offset by the relatively somber pre-menu opening sequence, we get a super happy and cheery opening with dancing right out of nowhere. Then right back to serious. The Agarest games tend to have an extreme amount of mood whiplash, but this is really pushing it. I am enjoying it though.

So I got this game, and it really is a massive improvement. Most of Idea Factory's games make me wonder why they are picked up for release here, but this one could probably get a release on its own merits. One thing that made me laugh though was that after the super serious opening scenes, not offset by the relatively somber pre-menu opening sequence, we get a super happy and cheery opening with dancing right out of nowhere. Then right back to serious. The Agarest games tend to have an extreme amount of mood whiplash, but this is really pushing it. I am enjoying it though.

I love that ridiculous opening! I also enjoy the "whiplash" as you so appropriately put it... Its lovely to have some levity sprinkled in such a dire narrative here and there. I couldn't believe the upgraded quality of these FMV sequences in contrast to the prior titles too, I wish there were move of them then I've bore witness to thus far, but given my restart I'm still not all that far in....

Speaking of.... on normal this game is SO much more enjoyable than hard.... I liked it on hard don't get me wrong... but now I officially love it. I feel very comfortable in saying this game is totally NOT getting the attention it deserves right now.

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In this world is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcedental entity or law? is it like the hand of god hovering above? Perhaps Man has no control even over his own will…

I kinda dig the over the top ridiculousness of IF games as a guilty pleasure, but what always turned me off was the shoe-horning in of too many "everything but the kitchen sink" wonky gameplay systems that often wound up working against each other rather than cohesively, making for issues with difficulty balance. That's one big reason I liked Hakuoki, is because it kept it nice and simple. It's good to have a legion of creative monkeys flying around in your head, but you have to calm those creative monkeys every once in a while or you end up with a big mess.

And as an aside, I enjoyed Mugen Souls (Compile Heart is basically Idea Factory Jr.) more than I expected to at E3.

I was gonna say I'm surprised Record of Argest Wars 2 was well-liked by Dincrest, but reading his last post, I see there was always a good chance for it. I dunno if I'd ever pick it up, but I'm glad to know Idea Factory is improving.

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“MY NAME IS POKEY THE PENGUIN I LOVE CHESS!! IT IS LIKE BALLET ONLY WITH MORE EXPLOSIONS!”I Draw Stuff Sometimes

The closest (not identical) battle system I've seen is Valkyrie Profile's actually. Combine that with locations based on where the current party leader is placed and you basically have it. It's not quite as refined, but that's the general gist of it.

Mickeymac- I was surprised myself. I have mixed feelings about Idea Factory and Compile Heart games. The prior Agarest War games were a cinderblock mule to play, yet Hakuoki is still one of my favorites this year. But, yeah, Agarest 2 is a definite improvement over your garden variety Idea Factory game. It still has some typical Idea Factory "WTF?" stuff, but is actually an enjoyable game.

Alisha- I guess my review was tl;dr. I discuss the battle system in the 12th paragraph. But since I'm feeling generous, think Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria meets Radiant Historia.